


why we don't trust park siyeon

by inmylife



Series: mall au [4]
Category: PRISTIN (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Customer Service, bath and body works, i spent too much time looking up fragrances, i'm sure lee mikyung is a lovely woman but i needed a villain so, jihoon is stressed out, siyeon is bad at her job, the customer is the ceo of cje&m, very slight soonhoon near the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 22:07:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13750173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inmylife/pseuds/inmylife
Summary: Jihoon has a problem patron.





	why we don't trust park siyeon

In Jihoon's opinion, it's impossible not to hate working at Customer Service. Especially in a mall this big, especially especially when the shop employees have as much drama as they do, and especially  _ especially _ especially when his coworkers are Soonyoung and Seungkwan.

 

Seriously. They're loud and annoying and so…  _ tactile _ . 

 

For example, they're currently all over Seokmin from Barnes and Noble. Now, Jihoon generally likes Seokmin - despite the fact that he's the literal embodiment of sunshine and no one has  _ any _ business being that happy - but when he's together with Soonyoung and Seungkwan he's just as annoying as they are. Soonyoung and Seungkwan have that effect on people, Jihoon finds. And because they consider Seokmin their other best friend, that effect is pretty much doubled. 

 

Jihoon doesn't have anything against Joohyun or Insun, necessarily. Insun does what she's supposed to do and for the most part does it quietly, and Joohyun is Jihoon's boss and for all intents and purposes she's a darn good one, because she tells Soonyoung to turn off his music after they've been listening to View by Shinee for an hour and keeps Seungkwan on task, both of which are truly remarkable feats. Made more remarkable by the fact that they actually listen to her. 

 

So Jihoon doesn't question Joohyun when she passes straight by the Terrible Trio and goes to chat with Insun about Insun's nonexistent boyfriend. 

 

("No, I'm not dating Jisung." 

 

"Well, then, why did you go to a concert with him literally last weekend? And came back both drunk?"

 

"It was my boyfriend's gig!"

 

"I have a hard time believing Maximite is your boyfriend, unnie. Didn't you say your boyfriend's name was Minchul, anyways?"

 

"That's his  _ real name _ !")

 

It's a running joke among the older mall workers that Insun is dating Yoon Jisung, who works at Sears. Insun swears this isn't true and that she's dating a guy named Minchul, otherwise known as EDM DJ Maximite. This is one mall joke that doesn't completely annoy Jihoon, purely because it's actually amusing (sometimes). Unlike what the Terrible Trio get up to. 

 

He does, however, question Joohyun when a particularly irate-looking woman storms up to the customer service desk and she points her straight to where Jihoon is sitting. Damn her. 

 

"Hello, sir," says the woman tensely. "My name is Lee Mikyung -" Jihoon doesn't see how her name is relevant "- and I bought this product from your Bath and Body Works last week." She brandishes a bottle of shower gel at him. Jihoon is generally one to judge people, so he doesn't feel bad in the least about wondering why a woman in her fifties is using shower products geared to high schoolers. 

 

"Yes, and?" asks Jihoon, already 100% done with this woman. "What exactly is wrong with it?" 

 

"It's over a month past its sell-by date!" She practically shouts. Jihoon has to wince a little at the volume of her voice. As much as he likes yelling himself, he isn't very fond of when other people do it. 

 

"Yes ma'am," Jihoon says. "Do you have the receipt?" 

 

"Why would I have the receipt?" She looks genuinely confused. 

 

"Well, if you had the receipt I could direct you back to the store and they could give you a refund," he explains, exasperated. "But, Mikyung-ssi, I'm not entirely sure what you want me to do." 

 

She looks angry. Clearly she wanted her money back. "Oh, I don't know - just - give them a talking-to, then. Don't let this happen again. And tell the flower boy to cut his hair." 

 

Flower boy? Does she mean Jeonghan? 

 

With that, she smashes the bottle of Moonlight Path shower gel onto the counter space in front of Jihoon and leaves. 

 

Jihoon really,  _ really _ hates customer service. 

 

But, you know, he gets paid for this, so he calls up Jieqiong anyways. 

 

"What do you need, oppa?" she asks. Bless the girl. Straight to the point (most of the time), remarkably unlike one Park Siyeon. 

 

"Some lady just came in with an expired bottle of shower gel. To be honest, Jieqiong-ah, I did not know your products had sell-by dates." 

 

Jieqiong makes a confused sound at the other end of the line. "Well, did she have a receipt?" 

 

"No, she yelled at me and then left," he answers. "Just - don't - I don't know, check the sell-by dates before you put anything on the shelves, okay?" 

 

"Mhmm, will do," she says agreeably. 

 

They hang up, and to be honest Jihoon thinks that's the end of it.

 

+

 

Except it isn't the end of it, because five days later she's back. Jihoon doesn't recognize her at first. 

 

"Hyung," says Seungkwan, "there's a lady coming over here, and she looks angry. Can you deal with her? Pleeeease?" Jihoon has no patience for Seungkwan and his doe eyes, but the woman does look very angry, and he knows that Seungkwan does not have the problem solving skills necessary to deal with this level of anger. If he wants to keep his job, he needs to make sure no one calls upper management (read: Parks Seongwoo and Hayi) to complain about customer service. Unfortunately, saving Seungkwan's sorry ass is part of that job. 

 

"Fine," Jihoon grumbles. 

 

"Hello," says the woman, looking like she's about to commit a murder. (Working with ⅔ of the Terrible Trio five days a week, Jihoon can relate.) "I came in here a few days ago regarding a bottle of Moonlight Path shower gel that was out of date?" Oh. It's this woman. 

 

"Yes, ma'am," says Jihoon, baffled. 

 

"Well, sir - Jihoon-ssi," she amends, evidently having read his name tag. "I went in to buy something else the day I spoke with you last. I took home a bottle of White Sand Beaches body lotion, and it gave me a  _ rash _ ." She sounds scandalized. 

 

"Yes, that sometimes happens," says Jihoon, unfazed. "Do you have your receipt this time, ma'am?" 

 

She slams it in front of him. This woman is needlessly violent and Jihoon does not like it. 

 

"I will call down now and get you a refund," he informs her blithely. 

 

He calls up Jieqiong. "Yes, oppa?"

 

"You remember a few days ago when I called you about the expired… um… what was it?" 

 

"It was shower gel," Jieqiong supplies helpfully. 

 

"Yes, that. Well, that lady's back with, um. Lotion, and she says she's gotten a rash from it. She has the receipt." 

 

"Is it White Sand Beaches," Jieqiong says - it isn't even a question.

 

"Yes?"

 

"We recalled that. A month ago," Jieqiong informs him, sounding just as confused as Jihoon feels. 

 

"Okay, well… can you give the lady a refund?"

 

"If she gives you her credit card information," she says. 

 

"I was getting to that." he sighs. "Ma'am, could I have your credit card information please? Management at Bath and Body Works will wire you the refund." She hands him her card and Jihoon puts the information in. "Okay, Jie, I'm sending it to you now." 

 

"Tell her it'll be in her account in two business days," Jieqiong says. Jihoon relays this.    
  


"Thank you," the woman huffs, and leaves. Jihoon is still on the phone. 

 

+

 

She's back two weeks later. "Yes, ma'am," Jihoon says when she approaches him. 

 

It's a bottle of body spray this time. Body mist? Jihoon doesn't know. The names girls have for their products are weird. "A Thousand Wishes," he reads off the label. "What can I do for you?"

 

"Shake the bottle," she tells him. 

 

"I'm sorry?"

 

"Just do it!" She's loud, and he flinches hard on instinct. Embarrassed, he shakes the bottle. Nothing sloshes within it; nothing untoward happens. 

 

"What exactly is supposed to be happening?" he asks her. 

 

"It's curdled," says the woman. Her name is Mikyung, Jihoon remembers. 

 

"Oh lord," he mutters. "Receipt?" It's slammed in front of him. "I'm calling now. Hello, Jieqiong?"

 

"Oppa?"

 

"You remember the shower gel?" 

 

"Yes?"

 

"And the lotion?" 

 

"Yes?"

 

"Now it's body spray that has apparently curdled." 

 

"Body  _ mist _ ," Mikyung corrects. 

 

"Forgive me, Jieqiong, Mikyung-ssi. Body  _ mist _ ." 

 

Jieqiong makes a soft noise of disgust on the other end. "You'll need to send me her card information again. It's been too long for me to call up the last transaction." 

 

"Card," Jihoon tells Mikyung, who passes it over. Shockingly unviolent. 

 

As she leaves, Jihoon buries his head in his hands. 

 

"What's wrong, Jihoon-ah?" asks Insun. 

 

"I hate this job, I hate this job, I hate this job…" 

 

+

 

Jihoon is having an exceptionally bad day. All three of the Terrible Trio have been making  _ noise _ in his workspace all day, some older man thought it was a good idea to complain about the Victoria's Secret merchandise to him, he's had to deal with two lost children already even though that's Insun's job because she's the loudspeaker person, and it's not even ten in the morning. 

 

Jihoon  _ cannot _ deal with one more crisis, and he's one incident away from calling Park Hayi and outright quitting this godforsaken job. Seungcheol, as Head Dad of the Sears, gets paid enough to cover the apartment anyways. 

 

It's just his rotten luck that Lee Mikyung comes up to the desk and goes straight to him. Why,  _ why _ did Joohyun have to point her his way when this whole thing started almost a month ago? 

 

"I did not want to have to come in here again," she says, sounding murderous. Jihoon vaguely registers the label of Twilight Woods Perfume on the bottle she's holding. "Why can't you just solve whatever problem they're having down there?" Mikyung gets close to Jihoon,  _ too _ close, and so he stands up and slams his hands on the counter and Jihoon doesn't quite know how it happens but he's trembling and on the verge of tears. 

 

"Uh, Insun noona?" Soonyoung. Soonyoung's arms around him. "Jihoon, I'm driving you home."

 

+

 

They don't speak in the car. Seungcheol isn't working when they get back to the apartment. He is very confused. 

 

"What - what - Soonyoung, what - Jihoon?"

 

"I hate customer service," Jihoon spits out, glaring at the floor. 

 

"Go take a nap," Seungcheol directs him. "We will have a chat later. Soonyoung - I - maybe go back to work?" 

 

Jihoon gladly obliges. Sleep is good. Sleep is not customer service. 

 

+

 

"Okay, so what happened with you at work today?" Seungcheol asks over udon noodles roughly four hours later. 

 

"There's this woman who keeps coming in with shit from Bath And Body Works," Jihoon says. "Like, four times in the past month. And she had the nerve to blame me for it today, and too much shit had already happened." 

 

"Bath and Body Works," says Seungcheol thoughtfully. 

 

"What," asks Jihoon, looking up to scan Seungcheol's face for some hint of whatever's going on inside his head. 

 

"Nothing, it's just - Jeonghan says they've been having a problem customer for the past month. She came in and said something bitchy. Like, homophobic-bitchy." 

 

"I think she called him a flower boy first time she came to the desk," Jihoon remembers, "now that you mention it. Said I should tell him to cut his hair." 

 

"Do you know what you should do?"

 

"...I don't think I'm going to like this." 

 

"Stake out the Bath and Body Works. See who's selling shit to her." 

 

"Hyung, that is literally not my job."

 

+

 

He does it anyway. 

 

Not many people know that White Barn exists. It's the candle subsidiary of Bath and Body Works, where Haein and Sungwoon get paid to do nothing and watch the goings-on of the other store. 

 

It's also where Jihoon is hiding on this wild goose chase of a stakeout. He doesn't know why he let Seungcheol and his coworkers talk him into this, but here he is, next to Haein at the counter, staring at Saerom, Jieqiong, Jeonghan, and Siyeon, and hoping one of them does something interesting. 

 

"Is this all you do all day?" he asks Haein idly. 

 

"Yep," she responds. "It's a darn unfulfilling job." 

 

"Bet you it doesn't suck as much as customer service," Jihoon says. 

 

"I'm not taking that bet." 

 

"Good. You'd lose." 

 

Sungwoon, it should be noted, is sulking with the Other Jihoon in Yankee Candle. According to Haein, Sungwoon is ever bitter about working at the candle store no one's heard of. So Haein and Jihoon are accompanied only by the candles. 

 

"I don't see the point in this," Haein says. "What are the odds she's going to come in today anyway?" 

 

"That's what I said," Jihoon grumbles. "Wait - holy fuck, she is actually here." 

 

Haein startles. It's a little comical, really, how alert she becomes. 

 

Mikyung enters, looking haughty. She says something to Jeonghan, whose eyebrows knit together and who immediately ducks into the White Barn, probably to hide from her. "That bitch," he murmurs, sliding in on Haein's other side. 

 

The store, Jihoon notices, is suddenly empty of all employees except for one Park Siyeon. She smiles winningly at Mikyung, walks her around the store, hands her a product, and then rings her up herself. 

 

Jeonghan is laughing. "I think she's avenging me." 

 

"What?" Haein gives Jeonghan a look. 

 

"The first time she came in here, she first thought I was a girl and then when I corrected her she called me something… rather rude. So I went off with Saerom - Jie wasn't in that day - and Siyeon did her thing. I think this is Siyeon's revenge." Jeonghan is in peals of laughter by the time he's done. "If what I've been hearing from Jie is right, she's been selling this woman gone-bad products for almost a month. That girl. The little sister I've always wanted." 

 

"She's a princess, is what she is," says Haein. "A spoiled princess. Love her, though." 

 

"I'm the princess of the store," sings Siyeon, walking in. "Why are we talking about me?" 

 

"Park Siyeon," says Jihoon. "You have caused me far too much trouble." 

 

+

 

"So?" asks Soonyoung as Jihoon returns to the customer service desk. 

 

"Park Siyeon," Jihoon explains. 

 

"I told you the plan would work," says Soonyoung smugly. 

 

"Oh, shut up." 

 

"But, like. Why?" Soonyoung pesters. 

 

"Avenging Jeonghan. She'd been a bitch to him." 

 

"I always loved that girl," Soonyoung sighs contentedly. 

 

+

 

In Jihoon's opinion, it's impossible not to hate working at Customer Service. 

 

But it's entertaining sometimes. 

 

And Soonyoung holds his hand under the counter sometimes now. So really, it's okay.


End file.
